Recently, we have learned more about a magical creature called "sloth", which once caused a heated discussion among the public. This creature, which seems surprisingly lazy and only wants to live a leisurely life, has managed to attract a lot of attention. Next, let's step into the world of sloths and discover these wonderful and revealing rules of animal life!
It is reported that the living habits of sloths are synonymous with "extreme leisure". They spend more than 80% of their time resting and adjusting their physiology, and even the most basic needs such as diet and excretion are surprisingly small. This way of conserving limited resources with minimal activity makes them one of the most frugal animals.
First of all, when it comes to diet, sloths choose to eat those plant leaves that are low in calories as a staple food. Scientific data have shown that the metabolic rate of this creature is up to 90% lower than that of other mammals, and its energy consumption is impressive. They value efficiency and practicality in their food choices, and only need to digest a small amount of food each day to maintain their daily needs. Interestingly, even after a whole week of accumulation, the sloths will only get off the tree when they really need to defecate, and they will instantly excrete all the feces accumulated for a week at once, so that they can easily lose 30% of their body weight. However, this does not make people feel too much envy and jealousy of them. After all, behind this extreme thrift, there is a price to pay for some lives. According to the data, 60% of sloths die during defecation.
Let's talk about the sloth's sleep problem. As we all know, sleep is one of the important ways to regain physical strength and enhance mental strength. But for sloths, sleeping is not just a matter of leisure, it's an important task. Different from human recumbent sleep, sloths tend to hang themselves upside down on trees, allowing their bodies to naturally droop and relax, so as to maximize their calm and stable state. Especially when facing childbirth, they will adopt a similar position to ensure that the newborn baby is born smoothly and avoid any harm. From this point of view, the wisdom of the sloth is admirable!
Sloths are also an integral part of forest ecosystems. Their size, their palms are large and flexible, and they can move quickly through complex foliage, making it difficult for even carnivorous birds of prey such as eagles to catch them. In addition, sloths have successfully evolved a unique physiological structure, physiological valves, which can effectively prevent blood from accumulating in the head, thereby reducing the risk of cerebral congestion. The average movement speed per hour is only 025 kilometers, such an inefficient mobility avoids a lot of potential dangers for them. At the same time, they are also inhabited by a variety of unique parasitic creatures, such as gilly suits with various fungi, which also become a natural protective barrier for sloths against predators such as nocturnal chameleons. In addition, parasites such as beetles, cockroaches and fleas also live in the hair of sloths, greatly enriching the diversity of this small ecosystem.
Tail: While everyone may be curious about this slow-moving lifestyle of sloths, this unique survival strategy has proven to be the key to the sloth's ability to survive in a hostile environment and become a maintainer of ecological balance. We should have a better understanding of ecology through the understanding of every tiny thing in nature, and inspire us to cherish nature and protect wild animals.
Note: Described in the article"Sloths"Why special species help them defeat the disease and prolong the life of parasitic microorganisms and molds, hypotheses can only be made based on expert research and data analysis. It is important to know that the way species survive and reproduce is ever-changing, and parasitism and symbiosis exist in many animal groups.